Shelby Lynne at The Granada

Shelby Lynne
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

Shelby Lynne was at the Granada almost 2 weeks ago. And going in I didnt know who she was until later when I was editing my photos while she was mid set and she did "Gotta Get Back" and then I was like ohhhhhh.

She's out touring and promoting her newest album which I believe is all Dusty Springfield covers. Shelby seemed really down to earth and cool, signing things for people down in the front between songs. The Granada is cool though cause it isnt huge. It's not small but its not too big, still pretty intimate.

And I have to say lighting at the Granada is pretty descent. The only previous time I had shot there was for Cat Power and she had just come out of Rehab and it was like worse than shooting in a cave due to her set up. But for this the lighting was quite pleasant.

Outside before the show when I was walking around the building to the front, one of her crew was like "So the weather is supposed to get bad?" and I told him that I thought the worst of it would be south of Dallas. And it was. But then I was like "but then again I'm used to this weather." and He was like "I'm not!" But ironically since my car was with me in Dallas it didnt get hailed on which was nice since it hailed at my house which is south of Dallas. The rain in Dallas was apparently pretty crazy though, seeing as how water was coming in through the side doors of the venue. I snatched up my bag just in time before the water got to it. I had set it against the stage while I was shooting.

Anyway here are a few shots from the show


Alright more Granada stuff coming up! Plus Kidd Kraddick stuff!

Rachel

Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

So on the 12th I got to shoot Miranda Lambert after the Horse Races. I was very excited I got assigned that. I shot the first two because that's what it said, but there honestly wasn't anyone enforcing it. I still dont like to push it so I only shot the first two and then I went over and stood by our reviewer and watched most of the show. Which is a bit of a rare occurrence for me. But Miranda went on so early it gave me plenty of time to get back to my house and make deadline.

She rocked by the way. Her vocals were consistent, she got the crowd into it telling them to "Shake what your momma gave ya!" During Gun Powder and Lead she was head banging around the stage. She seemed incredibly personable giving her intro to her song "Dry Town" explaining how her town was a dry town and the closest liquor store was 30 miles away, she said the drive home was alot more fun than the drive there. At one point she sat down on the side of the stage for a song in the middle she got up and moved to the other side and sat down there. Getting up close and personal with the audience. Something else I noticed was that she handed this little girl right up against the stage one of her guitar picks. She seems incredibly down to earth and Texan and honestly reminds me of my friend Becky. Also I just want to say that Miranda's band also rocked, I'm pretty sure they were all from Texas which is very cool and I think she said her bass player was from Joshua. He had this crazy mohawk but it was awesome.

If you have the opportunity to go see Miranda I suggest it. I wish I could have shot the whole show because she was rocking out a few times. Plus in the first two she didnt have her guitar on. I'm not sure she even used her Pink guitar I had to leave before the last song. But that thing would look great in photos.

Also lastly I just wanted to bring attention to her charity Cause for the Paws. They just did a charity event for it with auctions and such. I'm not sure if its going to be an ongoing thing but it's worth keeping an eye out for. Cause animals need help too.

But here are some photos from the show!





Ok that's all for now yall

Rachel

Johnny Cooper

Johnny Cooper
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

Johnny Cooper was Miranda's opening act last Saturday out at Lone Star Park. And he was pretty good, he's also pretty young so it's actually impressive how good he is. Pretty active on stage. He also got the crowd going with a cover of "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band. Also I heard his song on the radio today so hey go Johnny. I'm all for Texas music. I guess I'm sorta biased.

The crowd really liked him and after the show there was a crowd over by the merch booth to meet him.


Anyway here are a few pics. I will have the Miranda ones up ASAP!




Also today is my birthday! yay! Ok that's all.

Metro Station

Metro Station
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

Last Friday Metro Station stopped by Kidd Kraddick. They were promoting their new single and they also had a show at the House of Blues that night.

One of the singers in the band is Miley Cyrus' brother Trace. But it's seriously complete opposite the rest of the family it seems. Tattoos, Piercings and all Emo hair. And if he reads this he'll probably hate me for saying he has emo hair but my hair is kinda emo hair too so its not a dis or anything like that. They were also a bunch of nice guys and I think Anthony was just incredibly happy to be there, he was like extra nice to everyone. You catch flies with honey though.

Here are some pics from it, more at kiddlive.com


Okay and a completely un related off topic ramble again. I'm watching something on HBO right now and its I guess like fine arts camp of sorts run by Vanessa Williams with high school kids. And its not just like music and theater, its visual fine arts as well and there are some photographers there and its good to see even ones this dedicated to it at that age have doubts about their work. But that's just any artist. Were overly critical of ourselves, we think something is horrible when someone else doesn't. That saying you're your own worst critic is so true. Some people on American Idol are missing that part of their brains though apparently. But the point of the camp is to try and help them be better at their craft and believe in themselves and to also help them see if its the career path they really want to strive for. And that's kind of cool.

Okay I'm getting off my soap box now. I hope to have Johnny Cooper and Miranda Lambert pictures up in the next few days.

Rachel

Kelly Rowland

Kelly Rowland
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

Kelly Rowland was in studio at Kidd Kraddick a little over a week ago. She was there promoting her most recent album, which is apparently only available digitally, and I just dont like that whole only digital thing cause I like to have it and hold it in my hand, and I'm not talking about holding my ipod.

The music on the other hand sounded great, and I have to say she was so nice. She didnt bring her puppy which I would have loved to have seen cause it's a yorkie. She says she lives with her mom now because she didnt like to travel and would shake. And I understand that because my dog does that when he gets in the car. But I think secretly my dog loves to go places its just the car he doesn't like.

But back to Kelly. So nice, and they kept trying to get info out of her about the Jay Z Beyonce wedding rumors and she was just like what wedding? It was pretty funny. She even gave big Al a good punch then hug. But very nice and personable. And poor girls flight got canceled because American was canceling all those flights. So she said that was a sign from god she should just go home to Houston. She could have rented a car and drove. It's 5 hours but that's not too bad.

Here's a couple pics there are more at kiddlive.com


Rachel

Merle Haggard at Bass Hall

Merle Haggard
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

So Merle Haggard was at Bass Hall and I got to shoot that. And everyone knows he's like huge country legend. I cant say I've ever been big into Merle but my grandma likes him. And my parents like him. And he actually seemed like a cool guy. I mean he was wearing blue shades. Another thing I noticed was there was a really young guy in his band so I wonder if that was a son or a grandson or something playing with him. Keeping it family is cool.

So I shot my three and they were decently long songs so that was nice surprise. And as I was packing up I got to hear him do a cover of Folsom Prison Blues. But speaking of song limit It's always good to have artist that still give you 3 songs opposed to 2 or 1. Some artist give you ridiculous things like 1 minute or 30 seconds others give you 2 and stick you way off to the side or the soundboard. If they are really mean they give you 30 seconds from the soundboard. That's just nuts. And for the record I loathe the soundboard. Its so detached and far back and difficult to get anything worth while and I want to make the artist look good, I'm not going to run something that looks bad. I dont want a bad photo associated with my name. Anyway off my random tangent.

But Merle was a good shoot. Here's a few shots.


Alright I have some Kidd Kraddick stuff coming up next.

Rachel

B.B. King at Billy Bobs

B.B. King
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

So a couple weeks ago yes I know I'm way behind but I shot alot of stuff that weekend! But a couple weeks ago I had the privilege of getting to shoot B.B. King at Billy Bobs of all place.

I was quite sunburned like I said previously. This shoot was literally right after the Chevy Thunder shoot. So I stayed and watched a couple songs but left at like 11:20. I mean heck he went on at 10:30, that's alot longer than I normally stay at shows I shoot. But this was B.B. King and I'd be stupid not to watch a couple songs after I shot.

He's got skills on the guitar. Ya know just a few. And he seemed pretty charismatic. He even busted a move from his chair at one point which was great. I really think he likes the bar scene that is billy bobs. I mean it's like a venue but really its like a big club that happens to have a seated area infront of the stage. If you're down in front its pretty intimate, but I guess thats the case with any venue. But point being it isn't like a stadium.

Here are a few more shots



So there we go! Finally done with all that I shot race weekend!

Rachel

Chevy Thunder

Blake Shelton
Originally uploaded by rachelparker

Blake Shelton and Montgomery Gentry played the Chevy Thunder Concert this year during Race Weekend. It's an annual thing. Personally I prefer Blake over Montgomery but Montgomery were more active about the stage.

Blake is a one man show I mean with the exception of his band but he isnt like part of a duo. He played off the fact it was race weekend and made some alcohol jokes. At one point he picked up a cup which he thought had beer in it. But it didnt, I imagine it had some sort of mixed drink. He claimed it was still good and took another sip of it setting it back where he found it.

I have to say the folks running the show were nice to deal with. I was sunburned beyond belief from being out at the Motor Speedway, so I just hung out in the Catering tent and edited my pictures between sets. (The sunburn which I obviously upset by shooting photos with it, made my eye swell up and almost closed by monday but then it went down. Sun poisoning is not your friend kids.)

Anyway not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening. Here's some photos. Blake went on around 7 so there was still sunlight. Gentry went on at 9 so the sun had long gone by then.

Blake Shelton



Montgomery Gentry



Alright I have a ton I'm trying to get through and edit. I apologize that its taking so long. I'm pretty much 2 weeks behind but I've been busy I promise!

Later
Rachel